brushing

Pluralbrushings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of brush.

   The groom was brushing the horse down after the long ride.

   By brushing gently, she kept the antique finish from scratching.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. After be it builds the progressive (was brushing the horse), and in noun positions it acts as the gerund (by brushing gently). With no object it often means cleaning one's teeth. With past or against it becomes the light touch in passing, as in a sleeve brushing against the door. The countable noun with the plural brushings is a single act of brushing.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A single act of using a brush to clean, smooth, or sweep something.

   The dusty table got a thorough brushing before the guests arrived.

   One careful brushing was enough to lift the dirt from the suede.

   Similardusting, cleaning, sweep

   Note

   Most often it follows give or get with an article: give your shoes a brushing, or the table got a brushing. Drop the article and it becomes uncountable, naming the habit rather than the occasion. Because it is a true noun, it takes adjectives where the verb form takes adverbs: a quick brushing, but brushing quickly.

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Loose material that is lifted from a surface by the action of a brush.

   She emptied the brushing from the comb into the bin.

   The barber swept the brushing into a neat heap beside the chair.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A fraudulent technique in which an online seller ships fake orders, such as empty boxes, and posts positive reviews about them as if written by the recipient.

   The marketplace banned several vendors for brushing after investigators found pallets of empty parcels.

   Brushing inflated the listing's ratings until shoppers noticed boxes arriving with nothing inside.

   Note

   Online commerce has a name for a scam built on paper trails: the shipment exists only so that a review can claim a verified purchase. The parcels are unsolicited, often empty or token, and go to real or invented addresses. The payoff is a higher rating and ranking. The word is uncountable, so a seller is accused of brushing rather than of a brushing. It has nothing to do with the act of using a brush.

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